PedalingWalrus

Anyone on this forum rocking the Co-Motion Pinion gearbox tandem?

Wondering what Your review is

MrAshDarksideTM

I can let you know in July hopefully. We have a Java Pinion slated to be built.

act0fgod

Touring, gravel? The high end seems to be on the low side.

PedalingWalrus

I put a down a deposit on one 2 days ago. Does that mean it automatically puts me into the queue? I haven't received any personalized response afterwards. Just a receipt that I paid. :-)

MrAshDarksideTM

I'm not sure, we set ours up through a local dealer in Early February. Sizing and stuff was finalized mid March.

PedalingWalrus

Yeah. I just emailed with my local dealer and they will follow up with them to move this along. :-)

MrAshDarksideTM

[Awesome, I couldn't find any real first hand accounts, so it will be interesting. Hope it lives up to our hopes!

IPassGas

Is this the drive train? Seems much more complicated than a rohloff.

PedalingWalrus

Yes. that third belt is somewhat annoying. I agree but not a showstopper for the additional ability to use my existing wheelsets interchangeably and for going all belt and for changing oil easier (slightly) than Rohloff, and for 4 extra gears and maybe, just maybe ... for not having to use eggcentric bottom bracket but that is unknown to me right now. My pet peeve on our current Rohloff tandem (chain) is that the bottom bracket loosens up the chain after x amount of miles and to I have to constantly deal with tightening it.

MrAshDarksideTM

So you already have a Pinion equipped single? How are you liking it? My commuter has an Alfine 8sp, so I think I should be well acclimated for the Pinion bike, but couldn't find anyone locally with one to try out. On paper they seem amazing though.

PedalingWalrus

I have two Pinion singles and I love the gearbox very much. I loved the simplicity of changing oil, I loved the gear range.

There are a few things that are slightly annoying but no big deal ... in dusty environments the belt squeaks sometimes. This could be resolved by squirting some water on it but in reality when You're in the middle of a ride with others you're just not going to do that immediately....

IPassGas

Interesting, BB loosening...do you mean the eccentric is loosening or creeping? Certainly after a few 1000 miles some chain stretch occurs which requires an eccentric adjustment, but we have not had problems with eccentric creep. Perhaps a new or different eccentric would help. We very much like the rohloff on our tandem, and our bushnell eccentrics do not creep.

PedalingWalrus

what specifically is creeping? I am going to assume mine is 'creeping' :-) - it moves back enough to loosen the chain to a point where the chain starts dropping off every few miles. So basically it is unworkable. In order to tighten it properly I need to remove the crank, loosen the screws on the left and right side of the bracket and use spanner wrench or bottom bracket pliers to rotate the bracket forward again to regain the chain tension, then tighten the left and right screws and reattach the crank. It could technically be done also without removing the crank but the access is somewhat angled and not optimal.

I have had the bike shop work on it and sometimes they tighten it so that the bb only loosens after 500 miles or so but still ... I don't want to deal with that at all.

Just making sure we understand that this is talking about the Rohloff Tandem, not about my Pinion single bike.

Rick

PedalingWalrus: Do You have a external or internal locking eccentric on your Rohloff tandem. I have a Burley Bongo tandem. It has the two grub screws with points that screw in from the outside. I have had to readjust many times. My Co-Motion Pangea Rohloff came with there internal locking eccentric. Because of my experience with my tandem I replaced it with the Bushnell clamshell type eccentric. The Bushnell expands out a larger contact area for better holding.

IPassGas

PedalingWalrus: I have experience with eccentrics having set screws (grub screws) and expanding clamshell (bushnell). The BB is a separate piece common to single bikes that inserts into the eccentric. No experience with the type Rick mentioned and perhaps this is due to hollow BBs which I do not use. With both types I rarely need to adjust the eccentric (the BB cannot be adjusted, it is a fixed piece). When I do adjust the eccentric(s) (2 on our rohloff tandem), it is a simple, few minute operation which I can easily do/have done in the field. The cranks are not involved. I only say all this, because it seems you have a good bike with something annoying that can be replaced for a small cost versus a new bike.

PedalingWalrus

Yes I am strongly considering trying a different bottom bracket.

I was not sure at first. After our vacation tour I brought the bike to LBS and they tightened the bracket. It stayed ok for day trips, mostly on unloaded bike. However we just did 700 miles of the Empire State Trail and the bracket started acting up on day 8 and being annoying on day 10 (lost chain 3 times)

So the bike is back in the shop amd…we’ll see

Rick

What type does your Rohloff tandem have and who makes it.

PedalingWalrus

I do not know who makes the bottom bracket but I hope it is not Bushnell that everyone raves about 😬

i just wrote to my LBS asking to consider swapping to Bushnell. I hope he won’t write back saying I have Bushnell haha

IPassGas

It is wonderful that NY invested in building/connecting the the Empire State Trail. How was the surface on the northern connector, Albany to Canada? And can you say if it connects easily with the Route Verte of Quebec?
Three years ago we toured from Montreal to Nova Scotia, the route verte in Quebec was wonderful. I was in contact with Robin Dropkin who oversaw the Empire State Trail. She said they were trying to establish something like the Bienvenue Cyclistes on the Empire State trail. The Bienvenue Cyclistes assured us that we would always have a place to camp in the event that a campground was full, which we very much appreciated.

PedalingWalrus

From Buffalo to Albany the predominant surface is fine gravel, followed by paved path and some roads

one section shortly before reaching lock 15 is such soft gravel thst it slows you down for a few miles.

Bellman

My wife and I published a review in RTR Magazine. Bike Forums will not let me give you the link to it because I haven't posted enough times, but if you go to rtrmagdotcom you can see the review in the current issue. Hope it helps.

PedalingWalrus

I can try posting the link. Here it is.

PedalingWalrus

Good review. I pretty much agree with it all. Here are a couple more things I will probably enjoy with a Pinion tandem versus Rohloff

1. Rohloff rear wheel removal requires you to shift all the way to 1 or all the way to 14 and then carefully remove the rear shifting square tab thingy. This has never been a big problem but as we try to travel with the tandem as much as we can I think the simplicity of just removing the rear wheel versus the 3 or 4 extra careful steps would be welcome

2. This is only for us - no more chain. Again, I have no problems with chains, even love my chain propelled bikes but for travelling, breaking a bike in two (couplers) and shoving it into an SUV or box or onto a train one has to be constantly aware of the greasy chain implications and that could be a nuisance sometimes

act0fgod

Belt Drive For Bicycles | Commuter & Mountain Bike Belt Drives – VEER (veercycle.com)

The spliced belt allows for converting a Rohloff bike to belts..

PedalingWalrus

Wow. Cool. I did not know this option existed